


Hell Is For Children

by bloodnuns



Series: Hell Is For Children [1]
Category: Electric Century, Fall Out Boy, FrnkIero and the Cellabration, Gerard Way and the Hormones, LeATHERMØUTH, My Chemical Romance, Pencey Prep
Genre: Blood, Horror, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, Prologue, Psychological Horror, Spiders, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-06-09 06:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6893257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodnuns/pseuds/bloodnuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prologue to Hell Is For Children</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Legend Of St. Mary's

_If you search far enough back in the files of newspaper negatives in The Trentonian cabinet at the public library you might come across the story of St. Mary’s. A hospital neatly tucked away in a bustling corner of New Jersey. The article you would find, dated August 23rd, 1946, would detail a tragic fire caused by “unknown circumstances”. It would illustrate the charred remains of the third floor of the pediatric wing. The article would list off some 27 children, between the ages of 4 and 8, lost in the flames when the doors were mysteriously jammed shut, condemning them to perish in the flames._

_If you spoke to some of the residents of Trenton, they would have no problem sitting down with a glass of iced tea and recanting the ghost stories of St. Mary’s psych ward told to them by parents and older siblings who delighted in scaring others. They would tell you that they’ve seen it from the outside and it just looks like a dilapidated building, the one floor on the righthand side crumbling, black, and ominous._

_None of them have ever gone inside though; none of them have ever had the courage to hop the fence and poke around, and they would all tell you it was because of the overwhelming feeling of I’m not supposed to be here that came over them when they got too close to the fence._

_As the storyteller would near the end of their retelling their expression would darken, a mixture of fear and uncertainty painting itself across their face. They would tell you that they heard about some kids that did go in there once, and how they were never heard from again, but that they were sure the kids just moved away. Nothing has ever been confirmed, and no records could ever be found._

 

_Just an urban legend, right?_


	2. And You Weren't Invited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's just an urban legend, right?" 
> 
> Pete and Frank are best friends who have a tradition of doing at least one illegal thing every summer and because this is their last summer before college they're determined to make this adventure memorable. 
> 
> Breaking and entering is all fun and games until what you broke into tries to break you.

Ever since their freshman year of highschool, Pete and Frank have always found ways to get into trouble together.

Last summer they skim boarded over the wet grass on the courthouse lawn while the sprinklers were going, causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to the AstroTurf.

The summer before that they skinny dipped in the fountain in the Main Street square at two o’clock in the morning, turning the water green because _someone_ pissed in it and wouldn't fess up.

And the summer before that they bolted through downtown attaching obscene clay penises to all of the historic statues, trying to keep from tripping over themselves as they nearly doubled over in laughter with each successful phallic transplant.

Mrs. Iero and Mrs. Wentz were no strangers to the 4am phone calls from the local sheriff.

Their senior year of high school had proved to be one of growth and change; though, that really only meant that they figured out what they wanted to do in college and grew a few more chest hairs. Somehow, and neither of them understood exactly how, they landed themselves in relationships with boys that they adored.

The Way brothers, Gerard and Mikey, were two years apart in age and had moved into a house on Frank’s block at the beginning of senior year. Mikey was a junior and Gerard had already graduated and was in his first year of college, filling the time not spent with his brother or his boyfriend working at a local comic book store while he saved up enough money to move himself into a place closer to the Art Institute.

Before Pete and Frank had met Gerard and Mikey, their usual hangout spot had been Frank’s house; lounged across the couch, occasionally avoiding the swats from Mrs. Iero because one of them had their shoes on her furniture. But after Pete met Mikey, they found themselves at the Way residence more often than not, allowing circumstance to fall in place for Gerard and Frank to meet.

The summer was coming to a close, and soon the duo would have to leave each other and go to their respective colleges. Frank had gotten a full ride to Rugter’s on a soccer scholarship with hopes to pursue an English Masters, and Pete was headed to NYU to double major in Pre-Law and PoliSci. (They were shit heads, but they were smart shit heads.)

And now, with Pete’s head rested gingerly in Mikey’s criss-crossed legs, Mikey’s long, thin fingers working through Pete’s coarse hair and Gerard leaned back against Frank’s chest, Frank’s chin planted on top of Gerard’s head, their breathing succinct to the background noise of House On Haunted Hill (the original not the remake, don’t make them gag), an air of finality began to settle between the four of them. Frank and Pete felt it the heaviest, the pressure to plan one last great (and mostly illegal) adventure before the fall semester began threatening to crush their bones into dust.

As if they had been reading each other’s minds, Pete and Frank both let out a hefty sigh in unison.

“Fuck you,” Frank said, as if Pete's sigh was personally offensive.

“Nah, Iero, fuck _you,_ ” Pete replied, having to twist his neck at an almost uncomfortable angle to look up at Frank.

“Fuck both of you,” Mikey added, his fingers still raking through Pete’s hair as he kept his gaze trained on the black and white of the movie.

“Uh, did I miss something?” Gerard first turned to look at Pete, who was giving away nothing, then turned his torso enough to stare at Frank. “Earth to dipshits?” Gerard said, looking expectant.

“We haven’t done it yet,” Frank continued, ignoring the input from both Way brothers.

“I know, and we have to, it’s tradition,” Pete replied, as if they honestly had no other choice.

“What the _fuck_ are you two on about?” Gerard asked, shifting himself off of Frank’s chest.

“Seriously, you guys sound like the twins from The Shining,” Mikey said.

Finally, Pete sat up out of Mikey’s lap and Frank straightened up around Gerard, giving each other devious grins, making the instantaneous and silent decision to include their boyfriends in the shenanigans that they had yet to plan.

Frank started, smiling sweetly at Gerard and tucking a stray wisp of hair behind his ear as he spoke. “Well, Pete and I have this kind of... tradition.” he trailed off, shooting a glance out of the corner of his eye to Pete, willing him to take over.

“Every summer, we do something illegal,” Pete continued, sliding the tip of his finger down the bridge of Mikey’s nose in an attempt to be charming, though only succeeding in making Mikey twitch.

“Absolutely fuckin’ no--,” Gerard started, his tone reeking of _concerned older brother_.

“No, shush, listen. It’s not anything _horribly_ illegal like arson or theft,” Frank said, waving his hands to cut Gerard off. “It’s petty shit, like indecent exposure and trespassing.”

“And last summer it was easy because neither one of us had turned 18 yet. We couldn’t be arrested,” Pete said.

Frank laughed, remembering how often he’d busted his ass sliding around on the courthouse lawn. “Fuck, my mom was so pissed,” he said through cackles.

Pete joined in, his hands moving to hold his stomach as he was overcome with giggles. “I couldn’t tell if she was more pissed about having to pick us up from the station at 4am, or if she wanted to murder you simply because you stained--”

Pete was cut off by Gerard, who had folded his arms and huffed out an exasperated sigh. “Not happening,” he began indignantly, “you aren’t getting me arrested and you sure as hell aren’t getting Mikey into trouble.”

Mikey, who had been absent for most of the conversation, piped up then, his head whipping around so that he could glare at Gerard, “You’re my _brother_ , not my dad.”

“Doesn’t matter, you’re not going. If mom finds out--”

“What? She’s gonna ground me? Big fuckin’ deal. I’m still seventeen it’s not like they can arrest me. Besides,” he looked back at Pete, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “this sounds kind of... _fun_.” Pete returned Mikey’s smile, all teeth and beaming like a ray of sunshine. Mikey leaned over and pecked a kiss on Pete’s cheek, soliciting a sound of disgust from Gerard.

Frank rested his chin on Gerard’s shoulder, speaking softly into his ear. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, all I’m saying is that being third wheel to those two is going blow donkey dong.”

“Of course I’m fucking going,” Gerard hissed, the frustration of being outvoted evident in his tone, “I can’t let you two get Mikey into trouble.” He rolled his eyes, flopping back forcefully into Frank’s chest.

“Hey Pete, we gonna take on the big one this year?” Frank asked, nodding over at Pete.

“Fuck yeah. Our Everest.”

“What’s your Everest?” Mikey asked.

“St. Mary’s, the abandoned hospital in North Trenton,” Pete answered.

“Didn’t someone blow it up or something?” Gerard asked.

“Not exactly, more like it burned down in the 40’s. A bunch of kids apparently died there. It’s supposed to be like super fuckin’ haunted or some shit,” Frank corrected.

“Oh _fantastic_ , I get to live my own fucking horror movie,” Gerard said, sarcasm practically oozing out of his ears.

Pete and Frank glanced at each other, shrugging and deciding not to push the subject any further for fear that daggers might actually start shooting out of Gerard’s eyeballs.

The four of them settled back into each other, averting their attention back to the movie. All but one visibly excited for the coming debauchery.   



	3. And You're Locked In

Gerard bitched the whole way. He bitched the whole way to the county registrar’s office to get a copy of the blueprints for the hospital (they were for a summer project, of course). He bitched the whole way to the outdoor superstore to get flashlights and stock up on batteries and matches. And he bitched the whole way to the abandoned hospital when the group finally felt like they had everything in order for their urban exploration. 

“I told you that if you didn’t want to come, you could have stayed the fuck at home.” Mikey had finally had enough of Gerard’s bitching. 

Not that Frank and Pete hadn’t grown tired of it; Pete just didn’t want to piss off Mikey, and Frank was rather fond of the time he got to spend with Gerard in various states of undress. Gerard also happened to be the only one with a car, and that played a definite factor in Pete and Frank’s remaining silent during Gerard’s irritated monologues. 

“No the fuck I couldn’t,” came Gerard’s rebuttal, “I can’t leave you with tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum to get arrested or hurt.” Gerard nodded to Frank and Pete in turn, dubbing them tweedle-dee and tweedle dum. 

“Tweedle-dum would like to interject and say we brought a first-aid kit.” Pete’s voice came from the driver’s side of the car, behind Gerard.

“And Tweedle-dee would like to remind the Queen Of Hearts that Mikey’s only seventeen, he can’t get arrested,” Frank followed, giving Gerard a  _ come the fuck on _ look from the passenger seat.

“Whatever, get out of my car,” Gerard huffed, slamming his Toyota Tercel into park two blocks from the front entrance to the hospital. The other three exchanged looks of annoyance before climbing out of the tin can that was Gerard’s car. 

With Frank carrying the backpack and leading the way and Gerard noticeably lagging behind, the four of them set off from the car and made the two block trek to the front of the hospital.

When they arrived in front of the gate, the ominous empty aura started to seep into their skin. The street lights for half a block on either side were out, plunging most of the scenery into darkness. Everything they could see was illuminated by moonlight, and it wasn’t much. 

The building itself looked like any other condemned hospital transplanted out of the forties surrounded by an eight foot fence. It’s only identifying characteristic was the blackened and crumbling east facing wing which they all assumed, without needing to ask, was the infamous pediatric psych ward. 

Pete walked up to the gate, rattling the padlocked chain that kept the gate from opening. 

“Well, looks like we can’t get in, guess we have to go home,” Gerard said, turning on his heel and starting back in the direction they came. 

Mikey reached a hand out and caught his shoulder, spinning him back around. “Don’t be such a pansy.”

“I’m not being a pansy! This is fucking illegal and--”

“ _ Fun,  _ dickhead. It’s  _ fun _ , being a stupid kid is  _ fun.  _ And unless you start having some of it I’m going to call Mom and tell her where all of her stockings have been disappearing to,  _ Gina. _ ” 

Frank and Pete’s facial expressions mirrored each other, eyes wide with surprise and eyebrows raised so far they threatened to disappear into their hairline. 

“Gina?” Frank asked, the disbelief in his face slowly working it’s way towards mischief, that was something he was going to have to remember. 

“I will fucking murder you,” Gerard growled, low and intense, his chest puffing. Pete and Frank swore that they actually saw the daggers that they had been worried about before shooting from Gerard’s eyes.

“You’d have to catch me first,” Mikey hissed back, not missing a beat. 

Pete stepped in, before he and Frank became the first two people to witness an all out Way Brother Brawl. “We should probably hop the fence around the side of the building, getting all four of us over the fence without being seen is gonna be hard,” he said, walking between them and leading Mikey away by the hand. 

Frank walked up, closing the gap between himself and Gerard, but before Frank had a chance to say anything Gerard held his hand up, squashing all opportunities to discuss Mrs. Way’s missing stockings. Gerard had been embarrassed, and it had removed all of the edge from his demeanor. 

“Later, then,” Frank said, caressing the pad of his thumb over Gerard’s cheekbone, completely disarming him. 

Frank took Gerard by the hand and tugged him along to catch up with Mikey and Pete, who had already found a good spot around the side of the building to scale the fence without attracting too much attention. 

Pete being the smallest, opted to go over the fence first, making quick work of the chain link and landing on his feet on the other side. His own pride showing through the smile he beamed at the others. Frank tossed the backpack over the fence and Pete caught it one handed and set it down. Mikey went next, clumsily and with unsure footing. 

“We can still turn--” Gerard started, quickly being cut off by Mikey. 

“Shut the fuck up and get over the fence, Gina,” Mikey shot back through the small grunts elicited by the effort it took to get over the fence. 

Gerard’s face turned a bright shade of scarlet, and if Frank hadn’t been staring at him in that moment, he probably wouldn’t have seen it. Frank walked over and wrapped an arm around Gerard’s neck, pulling him in to kiss his cheek. 

Frank leaned in closer, whispering in Gerard’s ear, “I imagine you look fucking fantastic in stockings.”

As Frank pulled away, he swore he could feel the heat radiating from Gerard’s face, and he could definitely see how Gerard’s eyes got wide in astonishment.

And maybe it was something about what Frank said, because Gerard climbed the fence like he’d been doing it for years; much to the surprise of Frank, Pete, and even Mikey, who had an eyebrow cocked like he was skeptical of Gerard’s aversion to illegal activity. 

After Frank landed on the other side of the fence, the four of them walked back around to the front of the building, navigating by nothing other than moonlight lest someone discover them. 

After much stumbling over each other and cursing under their breath, they fell into the front door of the hospital and it swung shut with a resounding thud behind them.

“Ow, fuck! Get off me!” came Gerard’s voice from somewhere near the floor.

“Shit, sorry,” Pete answered. 

“Jesus fuck it’s dark in here,” said Mikey.

“Oh fuck, right,” Frank muttered to himself, having picked himself up off the ground and found a wall to lean against while he rifled through the backpack, feeling around for one of the flashlights they’d brought. Once his hand found purchase on one, he pulled it out of the backpack and flipped the switch, realizing a second too late that he turned it on backwards, temporarily blinding himself. 

“Ah! Fuck!” Frank exclaimed, dropping the flashlight. 

“Ha! Dumbass!” Pete let out a hearty laugh, still trying to remove his elbow from Gerard’s ribs, Gerard squirming under him. 

Gerard was finally done fighting Pete’s weight and put all of his strength into shoving one of his shoulders, pushing Pete off of him and into the dirty tile floor. 

“You’re heavier than you look,” Gerard said through heavy breaths, standing up and brushing himself off in the light dispersed by the flashlight still rolling across the tile. 

“Fuck you, I’m not fat,” Pete shot back, his tone suddenly serious. Gerard had gone to chase the flashlight, bent over and shuffling after it, scoffing at Pete’s reaction. He finally caught up to the flashlight as it bumped against a doorframe.

“That’s not what I meant and you--” WHAM! 

Gerard was planted on his ass as a heavy wooden door slammed directly in front of his face, startling him backwards. The flashlight was catapulted toward him, thumping into his leg. 

“What the fuck?!” Gerard scrambled for the flashlight, then onto his feet, pointing the beam at the door. 

“What the fuck was that?!” asked Mikey, having pressed his back flush against the nearest wall he could. 

Neither Pete nor Frank saw anything, Frank still temporarily blinded and Pete too busy with brushing off his clothes. 

“Uh? Strong gust of wind?” Pete offered, dusting the last bit of crap off his jeans. 

Gerard and Mikey looked at each other, wondering what they’d gotten themselves into, but Pete and Frank didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. 

As soon as Frank regained his eyesight, he fished around in the bottom of the backpack and pulled out flashlights for everyone else, making sure that they were all pointed away from his face before they were turned on. 

Pete, hand in hand with Mikey, made his way towards the staircase to the second floor; while Frank and Gerard were moving in the direction of the corridor to the right, and it was the growing distance that Gerard felt between himself and his brother that made him turn around and notice their diverging paths.  

“We need to stay together,” Gerard said, planting his feet and stopping Frank in his tracks. 

Mikey looked to Pete for direction. He wasn’t going to bitch down and demand to stick with his brother all night, but if Pete made the suggestion then that would be okay. 

“Nah, we’ll be okay.” Pete shrugged. 

“Look, I just really think--” Gerard’s voice was clouded with fear, which Frank mistook for brotherly concern.

“Babe, everything’s going to be okay. They have their cellphones, they’ll call if anything happens. It’s okay,” Frank said, squeezing Gerard’s hip reassuringly. 

Gerard glanced back at Frank; maybe he was being too overprotective, he probably just needed to chill out. 

“Okay,” he said, halfheartedly nodding his head, “but keep your phone on.” 

Mikey gave a thumbs up before he and Pete headed up the stairs. Gerard watched them until they disappeared, letting out a sigh once they were out of sight. 

His mind blanked, however, when he felt a pair of hot lips on his neck. 

“Listen, I really want to talk about  _ Gina _ ,” Frank breathed into the crook of Gerard’s neck. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  


 

 

The main difference between the first and second floor was the smell, and as soon as Pete and Mikey were on the landing, they were assaulted by it. 

“Oh, gross, fuck!” Mikey covered his nose with this shirt, not that it did much good, his shirts were never very thick, but he at least could dilute it with the smell of his own fabric softener.

“ _ Jesus _ ,” Pete agreed, scrunching his face in utter distaste. “What the fuck died up here?” 

Pete laced his fingers securely with Mikey’s and headed off down the nearest hallway, hoping that the smell would dilute itself if they moved away from what seemed to be the most pungent area. 

The beams of their flashlights fell into room after room as they passed the doorways. In some of them the beds securely bolted to the floor, but in others they had been ripped from the concrete anchored tile and thrown against walls and windows. Broken shards of glass littered every inch of the floor, making it glisten as they walked. 

“Fuck,” Mikey cursed, and as Pete glanced over at him, he noticed the look of discomfort on Mikey’s face. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I have to pee.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Yes, my completely normal bodily functions are a ruse eloquently laced into awkward situations for the employment of humor.”

Pete rolled his eyes, “There’s no running water here.”

“Fucking duh.” 

Mikey swept the beam of his flashlight around and praised his deity as a “Men’s Bathroom” sign was illuminated. “Convenient.” 

Pete followed Mikey into the bathroom, and when Mikey gave him a questioning look he answered with, “What? Stay out here by myself? Fat fucking chance.” 

“Fine, hold this,” Mikey said, handing Pete his flashlight.

A few moments later Mikey was zipping himself up and rubbing his hands on his pants. Pete crossed the bathroom back to the door and tried to open it, finding that it wouldn’t swing open. 

He twisted the knob a little harder and tried again, and again the door didn’t budge. 

Flashing a concerned look at Mikey, he handed off his flashlight and took the knob with both hands, planting a foot on the door frame for leverage. He pulled as hard as he could, and with the sounds of splintering, the knob detached from the door itself and Pete was sent tumbling back on his ass. 

He looked down at the hunk of metal in his hands, “Are you shitting me?”

“Fuck,” Mikey cursed, his teeth worrying his fingernails.

Pete sat up and crawled over to the hole that the door knob left, right where the keyhole would have been. He closed his left eye and leaned in, trying to peer out of the hole with his right. 

Instead of being met with the image of tile and broken glass on the other side of the door, his gaze fell upon another eyeball, protruding and red and irritated, rolling wildly in the keyhole as if it was searching for something, but seeing nothing. 

Pete jumped and fell back for a second time, his hands swinging madly in front of him to defend himself from something that wasn’t there. “Fuck!” he screamed, rubbing his eyes hard enough to rupture blood vessels. 

“What?” Mikey asked, glancing quickly from Pete to the door and back to Pete again.

“There was someone fucking look at me through that hole!”

“We’re the only four people in the building Pete,” Mikey said soothingly, though it had no effect but irritating Pete further.

“Fuck you I know what I saw,” Pete shot back.

“Okay, shit, I’m sorry. I’ll call Gerard and Frank can come break the door down or something.”

Mikey pulled his phone from his pocket and tried to dial Gerard’s number once, twice, three times, the resounding  _ your call could not be completed as dialed _ coming from the receiver. 

“I don’t have reception,” Mikey said.

Pete retrieved his phone and tried to do the same, with the same result. 

“What now?” Mikey asked, fear creeping into his tone. 

“Hope to God one of them walks by this bathroom, I guess.” 


	4. And They Want To Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's just an urban legend, right?"
> 
> Pete and Frank are best friends who have a tradition of doing at least one illegal thing every summer and because this is their last summer before college they're determined to make this adventure memorable.
> 
> Breaking and entering is all fun and games until what you broke into tries to break you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to gee-is-a-vampire-queen, folkinaryro, poptarkpunk, and grungeclaudia on tumblr for beta reading and giving feedback. you guys are the best.

Gerard’s blowjobs were always Frank’s favorite.

 Not that he had a lot of experience before Gerard or anything; there was just something about the way that his boyfriend flicked his tongue that had decided it for him.

And now, as Frank put his dick away and Gerard wiped at the corners of his mouth, he was reminded of that.

However, the euphoria that had previously settled into the pit of his stomach was turning into a prickly, nauseated rumbling that unnerved him. It must have shown through his facial expression because Gerard, from the floor asked, “Are you okay?”

“I think so. I just feel sick all of the sudden,” Frank replied, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes, trying to get a grip on the state of his stomach.

 “Well damn, remind me never to blow you again,” Gerard joked, getting up from his knees.

 “Hey, that’s not--” before Frank had a chance to finish that statement he was turning away and doubling over, dry heaving.

 “Shit, babe.” Frank throwing up wasn’t new to Gerard. They’d been together long enough for Gerard to know that Frank got sick often and now it was just kind of routine to rub his back and bring him Sprite. Even though Gerard didn’t currently have any Sprite, he would still rub Frank’s back all the same.

 As he took a step closer to Frank something moved out of the corner of his eye, his head whipped around to see what it was and found nothing. He didn’t have time to think about it too much, however, because Frank was heaving again and this time there was a sickening _splat_ to accompany it.

 Gerard looked at the floor in front of Frank and saw a puddle of something dark illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the barred windows.

 “Blood,” was the only thing Frank managed to say before his words were slurred under another gut-wrenching heave and subsequent _splat_.  

 “Fuck. Shit. That’s not good. That means you’re bleeding internally. Shit. Fuck. I-- Fuck! I have to go find Pete and Mikey, we have to get out of here and take you to a hospital.” Gerard was in full blown panic mode at this point, his hands balled into fists at his sides waiting for some kind of reply from Frank.

“Yeah, yeah, go,” Frank said, waving a dismissal at him. Part of Frank agreeing so quickly was because he hated Gerard seeing him sick, and if something was seriously this wrong with Frank, then he wanted all the time to be sick alone that he could get.

 “Fuck, right. Okay.” And Gerard was off, down the hall and up the stairs before Frank could say anything else.

 Frank heaved a few more times and threw up more blood, the dark puddle growing to the size of a pillowcase and encroaching upon the toes of his Converse. Standing up straight, he used the bottom of his shirt to wipe his forehead and then his mouth.

 When Frank smoothed his shirt back down, he noticed a small black dot moving up the cotton on his chest. He jumped and brushed at it, watching it fall to the floor. But as his eyes focused on the floor, what was once a puddle of blood that had rushed up to meet his shoes was now a pulsing, wiggling, mass of _something_.

Frank reached for the flashlight in his back pocket, finding the button on the side with his thumb and clicking it on, shining it on whatever was at his feet. There, he saw the tiny bodies of thousands of little spiders; crawling over each other and at him. He followed their line of movement from the tile floor to his shoes and finally up his legs before his brain pulled itself out of it’s state of shock.

 Frank, screaming, took as many steps backwards as he could, planting himself firmly against a wall. He leaned down to brush the spiders off his legs, as much as he _didn’t fucking want to touch them_.

 The spiders that he tried to brush away crawled from his legs to his hands and up his arms and suddenly he was trying to fling them off his arms too. He ran his hand over his arm and suddenly they were gone, moving quickly to do the same thing to the opposite arm and watching the spiders disappear. He looked down at his legs and the black dots that had crawled up him before where nowhere to be seen.

He sighed in relief and leaned up against the wall, thinking that he had to have been losing it. 

Frank didn’t get to revel in his safety for long, because his arms started to itch violently. He glanced down at them again and watched as his own skin bubbled and moved; like something, or a lot of little somethings, were crawling _under_ it. He started scratching at it, his nails tearing through in some places and drawing blood.

His heart was beating too fast, much too fast to be normal. As the blackness started to creep into his vision he thought _this is how I die._

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

 

Mikey paced back and forth, removing what little nails he had left with his teeth.

Neither he nor Pete had uttered a word in a while, both of them were too stunned by their situation to really say anything to each other. Here they were, locked in a fucking bathroom on the second floor of some deserted fucking hospital because Frank and Pete had whatever fucking tradition they did. The more Mikey thought about it, the dumber it sounded to him, and the more irritated he became.

Mikey, still pacing, interrupted the silence first.

“What if we crawled through the ventilation system?” he asked, looking up at Pete to survey for a reply.

Pete looked around for a vent cover from his spot on the floor, finding nothing. He got on his hands and knees and crawled along the baseboards, eliciting a look of disgust from Mikey.

“That’s so gross, Pete. Get off the floor.”

“Hold on,” he replied, brushing off his boyfriend and continuing his search.

Just there, beyond his line of sight, behind a divider separating two urinal stalls, was a vent. Nine inches tall and maybe a foot wide surrounded by what looked to be bloody lines, like someone had clawed at it desperately enough to tear their fingernails off.

“Uh, that idea’s out,” Pete said, looking back over his shoulder at Mikey, his face painted an alarming shade of _are you seeing this shit?_

“This is too much. This is too goddamn much. I can’t fucking handle this.” Mikey stopped a foot away from the door they came in, rubbing his temples as he spoke.

Pete watched him, sighing heavily. Mikey turned his back to the door and leaned back, trying to put his weight against it. Instead, he fell through it and onto the debris dusted floor on the other side, the wood turning into a hyperrealistic hologram as Mikey’s face changed from _ugh_ to _oh fuck!_ In half a second flat. Pete jumped to catch him, his reflexes kicking in before his critical thinking had the chance to.

However, Pete found himself running face first into the solid wood door that Mikey had just fallen through, startling him into taking a step back and holding his now bleeding nose.

Mikey held the back of his head on the other side, opening his eyes and seeing stars dance within his sight.

“Fuck,” he said, closing his eyes again and willing the stars to go away.

“Mikey?!”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Mikey replied.

“What the fuck just happened?” Pete called from the other side of the door, his voice muffled by his hand.

“I- I don’t know.” And he didn’t, he was still trying to unsee those stupid fucking dancing lights. He stood, nausea wracking through him. He pushed against the door finding, as Pete’s face had, that it was solid and unmoving.

“It’s not opening,” Mikey said.

“Fuck! What do we do now?” Pete called again. 

“I guess I’m gonna go find Frank and Gerard and see if either one of them knows the magic fucking words to open this goddamn door.”

“Wait! You can’t fucking leave me here!” Pete was starting to panic, and it wasn’t helping the rate at which he was losing blood through his nose.

“I have to. There’s nothing else I know to do.”

There was a pause, followed by a sigh from inside the bathroom.

“I know-- just, be careful, alright?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be back,” Mikey said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He turned to start down the hallway and stopped when he heard Pete again.

“Wait, Mikey!" 

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Mikey smiled, Pete didn’t say it often, but when he did Mikey could always hear how much he meant it.

“I love you too,” Mikey replied, and with that he trudged off down the hallway to find his brother.

 


End file.
